Work Health and Safety Perceptions: Manufacturing Industry
February 2015
The views and conclusions expressed in this report do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Work Australia members
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With the exception of the Safe Work Australia logo, this report is licensed by Safe Work Australia under a Creative Commons 3.0 Australia Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en
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Disclaimer
The information provided in this document can only assist you in the most general way. This document does not replace any statutory requirements under any relevant State and Territory legislation. Safe Work Australia accepts no liability arising from the use of or reliance on the material contained on this document, which is provided on the basis that Safe Work Australia is not thereby engaged in rendering professional advice. Before relying on the material, users should carefully make their own assessment as to its accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance for their purposes, and should obtain any appropriate professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances. To the extent that the material in this document includes views or recommendations of third parties, such views or recommendations do not necessarily reflect the views of Safe Work Australia nor do they indicate a commitment to a particular course of action.
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Preface
The Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 2012-2022 (the Strategy) describes the manufacturing industry as a priority industry for work health and safety. While much is known about work-related injuries and illnesses in this industry from the national workers’ compensation dataset (NDS), we also need to know about hazard exposures, work health and safety attitudes and perceptions and work health and safety activities in this industry. This information will help to identify issues requiring prevention action and will ensure that resources and prevention efforts can be targeted appropriately.
This report summarises findings from manufacturing employers and workers from eight existing Safe Work Australia data sources. The report presents areas where the manufacturing industry is doing well and areas for improvement in relation to:
· hazard exposures and workplace control measures
· work health and safety activities, and
· work health and safety perceptions and attitudes that may act as barriers or enablers to work health and safety.
This research report was written to inform the development of polices in relation to work health and safety in the Manufacturing industry. The views and conclusions expressed in this report do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Work Australia members.
Perceptions of Work Health and Safety Survey and the Regulatory Burden Survey
This report presents findings from two nation-wide surveys of employing businesses. Responses to the survey questionnaires were weighted to reflect the size, primary location and main industry of businesses in Australia. As is often the case with large surveys, the response rate was low. This increases the risk that the views and experiences of the study sample are biased and affects the extent to which those views and experiences can be generalised to the population of interest. In short, the surveys provide potentially valuable information from over a thousand individuals in each survey but we cannot be confident that the information is representative of the whole population. It is therefore important that estimates or comparisons, particularly those based on the relatively small number of medium-sized and large businesses, are seen as indicative or suggestive rather than representative or definitive.
As with all statistical reports, the potential exists for minor revisions over time.
Content
Preface i
Perceptions of Work Health and Safety Survey and the Regulatory Burden Survey i
Executive Summary iii
Background iii
Main findings iii
Conclusions iv
Context 1
Background 1
Aim and structure of the report 1
Approach 3
Main Findings 5
Self-reported exposure to hazards 5
Provision of control measures for specific hazards 7
Areas for improvement 10
Work health and safety practices 12
Areas for improvement 19
Perceived causes of work-related injury and illness 21
Attitudes and perceptions on work health and safety 22
Areas for improvement 24
Appendix A- Description of data sources used in this report 27
CEOs and Supervisors Telephone Survey (CEO-2000) 27
National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance Survey (NHEWS-2008) 28
How exposure is defined 29
Motivations, Attitudes, Perceptions and Skills (MAPS) Survey (MAPS-2009) 34
Work Health and Safety Perceptions Worker and Employer Surveys (WHSP-W-2012 & WHSP-E-2012) 35
Work Health and Safety Compliance (Regulatory Burden) Survey (RBS-2013) 36
Work Health and Safety in Structural Metal Product Manufacturing (The Structural metal study-2013) 36
Health and Safety at Work Survey (HSW-2014) 37
Appendix B. Strengths and limitations 38
Executive Summary
Background
The manufacturing industry is designated as a priority industry for work health and safety due to the high number and rate of work-related injuries and illnesses. Other than work-related injury and illness data and the findings from relevant Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities (HWSA) audit and education campaigns, little information on work health and safety in the Australian manufacturing industry is available.
This report attempts to address this information gap by summarising findings from eight existing Safe Work Australia research and evaluation data sources. A concise report such as this cannot cover all topics covered in these data sources. Therefore, this report focuses on exposure to hazards in manufacturing, provision of control measures, other work health and safety practices and work health and safety attitudes and perceptions that may be relevant to work health and safety practices in the industry.
Main findings
The most common self-reported exposures in the manufacturing industry were exposure to airborne hazards, noise and vibration. Most workers with exposure to noise were provided with some type of control. However, about one in seven workers with exposure to airborne hazards and vibration were not provided with any control measure for these hazards.
According to the majority of workers and employers in manufacturing, work health and safety activities such as using personal protective equipment, identifying health and safety risks and removing hazards are undertaken ‘most of the time’ or ‘always’. Over 80% of manufacturing employers reported that they provide health and safety training, have a work health and safety policy, have procedures for reporting work-related injuries and ill health and procedures for controlling hazards. Generally, a higher proportion of manufacturing employers reported undertaking these activities compared to employers in other priority industries. However, small manufacturing businesses were usually less likely to undertake these activities compared to large manufacturing businesses.
The majority of manufacturing businesses spent less than 30 minutes a week per activity for five of the six administrative work health and safety activities examined in the Regulatory Burden Survey such as keeping records and applying for licenses. However, 41% reported spending more than an hour per week on checking worker competencies. In many cases, manufacturing businesses were more likely than businesses in other priority industries to be undertaking various work health and safety activities examined in the 2013 Regulatory Burden Survey. They also spent more money and time on these activities compared to businesses in other priority industries. However, one in five manufacturing businesses did not identify safety issues in 2012.
Most manufacturing workers and employers believed that there is good communication on safety in their workplace. They also had positive views about management’s actions to improve safety in the workplace and allowing workers to have an input into work health and safety. However, 14% of employers reported that corrective action is not always taken when they are told about unsafe practices. Moreover, almost a third of workers and 13% of employers regard risks as unavoidable in the workplace. Some workers and employers also accept risk taking if they are short on time.
Conclusions
Confirming existing evidence, workers in manufacturing were exposed to a number of occupational health hazards according to the National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance (NHEWS) Survey.
A few areas for improvement for control measures for specific hazards were identified. A considerable proportion (14%) of workers who reported exposure to airborne hazards and 14% of workers who were exposed to vibration reported that no control measures were provided for these hazards. The self-report nature of the NHEWS survey means that adequacy of control measures cannot be determined and there is a possibility that higher order control measures are in the workplace that workers were not aware of. However, the findings suggest that more research is needed on adequacy of control measures for these common hazards in the manufacturing industry.
Despite its high rate of work-related injury and illness, the industry appears to be doing well in terms of general work health and safety activities. The vast majority of workers reported undertaking work health and safety activities such as using PPE provided and making work practices safe. More employers reported that their workplace undertake a specific activity compared to workers, suggesting that there is a slight mismatch between employers and workers on how consistently these work health and safety activities are undertaken. The largest discrepancy was for discussing health and safety concerns in the workplace. Almost all (99%) employers reported this compared to 73% of workers in the WHS Perceptions Survey.
In most cases, more manufacturing businesses were undertaking compliance activities for work health and safety compared to businesses in other priority industries in 2012. Moreover, they also spent more time and/or money on these activities. Yet, 20% of manufacturing businesses did not identify safety issues and only two thirds put in place safety measures. This suggests that while the majority were undertaking compliance activities, there is room for improvement in some businesses.
In terms of health and safety training, the manufacturing industry is doing well. The 2012 WHS Perceptions Survey of Employers showed that a large majority of employers in manufacturing (87%) provided health and safety training to their workers in the last 12 months. The proportion is 71% among employers in other priority industries. The Regulatory Burden Survey 2013 also showed the high rate of internal and external staff training among manufacturing businesses. However, both surveys indicated that small businesses were less likely to provide health and safety training compared to medium and large businesses. Increased capacity and support for small businesses to provide health and safety training and undertake other compliance activities is needed. This suggestion is further supported by findings in a previous study of small and medium manufacturing businesses where they nominated time and financial pressures as major barriers to work health and safety.
Other areas that could be targeted for improvement in health and safety activities include inclusion of contractors in health and safety induction training if required and addressing bullying and fatigue.
In general, manufacturing employers and workers believed that they have the knowledge and skills to protect themselves and others at work. Both groups also had positive perceptions about management actions to improve health and safety and safety communication in the workplace. There was an expectation by employers that workers will follow safety rules in their workplace and most workers reported following organisational rules on work health and safety.
However, at least one in five workers and employers accepted risk taking if there is time pressure. More research is needed to better understand risk taking behaviours in this industry.
Disclaimer
This research report was written to inform the development of policies in relation to work health and safety in the manufacturing industry. The views and conclusions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of Safe Work Australia Members.
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1. Context
Background
In order to achieve the 2012–22 Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy’s outcome of reduced incidence of work-related death, injury and disease, there needs to be a reduction in exposure to hazards through improved use of control measures, especially in industries with the highest rates of death, injury and disease. To this end, the Australian Strategy has identified the following priority industries for prevention activities: Agriculture, Road transport, Manufacturing, Construction, Accommodation & food services, Public administration & safety, and Health care & social assistance. The Strategy also states that attention should focus on the specific sub sectors of these industries that require the greatest improvement.
The ABS labour force data from May 2014 showed that there were 921500 workers in the manufacturing industry which equates to 7.9% of the total Australian labour force. The manufacturing industry has been designated as a priority industry due to the high number and rate of work-related injuries and illnesses. The industry had the highest average incidence and frequency rate of serious workers’ compensation claims for the five year period from 2004–05 to 2008–09 compared to other industries. In 2011-12 (provisional national workers’ compensation data), the incidence rate of serious workers’ compensation claims for manufacturing was 18.4 per 1000 workers which was 1.6 times the rate of all industries (11.4 per 1000 workers).
This report is one of a series produced by the Research and Evaluation team at Safe Work Australia on priority industries. These reports are intended to provide an overview of Safe Work Australia’s current state of knowledge about work health and safety in priority industries. Other than work-related injury and illness data and the findings from relevant Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities (HWSA) audit and education campaigns, little information on work health and safety in the Australian manufacturing industry is currently available. This report attempts to address this information gap.
Aim and structure of the report
The main aim of this report is to provide a summary of what is currently known about work health and safety in the manufacturing industry from existing Safe Work Australia Research and Evaluation data sources. The report focuses on four main areas: